Archery is practiced the world over. Fundamentally, archers use bows (or crossbows) to shoot arrows (or bolts) at targets. Archery is practiced both as a means for procuring game in the field and as sport (target shooting, archer's tournaments, demonstrations, or the like).
Presently there are generally four types of arrowheads (or points) used in the field of archery: arrowheads with fixed blades; arrowheads with removable blades (replaceable blade arrowheads); arrowheads with blades that open when the arrowhead strikes an object (expanding arrowheads of the broadhead and flip-blade variety); and arrowheads without blades (field tips, or target tips). All four of these arrowhead types are usually constructed from steel or lightweight metal (such as aluminum). In general, arrowheads can be described as having a tip end and a threaded (or other form) attachment end, whereby the arrowhead is attached to an arrow shaft. Manufacture of arrowheads having various weights is utilized to accommodate archers' preference for different trajectories and arrow speed (for example, 100 grain (GN) and 125 grain (GN) weight arrowheads are common).
A number of expanding arrowheads have heretofore been suggested and/or utilized (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,099,720, 7,713,152, 6,830,523, 6,270,435, 5,102,147, 5,100,143, 5,083,798, 5,066,021, 6,910,979, 7,951,024, 7,905,802, 7,677,995, 6,015,357, 5,879,252, and 5,803,844). Mechanical activation has been achieved using both internal actuators (U.S. Pat. No. 7,713,152, for example) and external actuators (U.S. Pat. No. 7,677,995, for example). A typical (and early) example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,720 wherein a cam sleeve actuator is operative to deploy plural blades upon impact with a target. This design, like others, includes non-reusable blade retainers and arrow shaft adapters which, though effective, increase the total arrowhead weight and effect flight stability.
While these heretofore known arrowheads have met with some success in use, many are unduly complex, include non-reusable features requiring replacement with every arrow shot, can be susceptible to premature blade opening, have varying and unpredictable blade activation impact force requirements, are heavy and are not susceptible to lighter weight designs, and/or have an unduly large diameter effecting flight stability. Further improvement could thus still be utilized.